What does each of the following mean regarding product lines: fill out, stretch, contract, upward, downward 2 way stretch?
a. Full-line strategy targets many customer segments, while a limited-line strategy with only a few variations may help improve the firm's image as a specialist.
b. Additional product strategies may actively seek to expand or contract the product line. Extending the product line would require that brand managers develop new brands to tap needs currently unmet by the firm.
c. One method of extending the product line is to stretch it upwards, by adding a high-end or premium brand that either contains more features, or is of higher quality.
d. Alternately, when economic times are tough, a firm may choose to stretch the line downward by stripping a product of features or developing a "budget" brand. Before stretching the line in this fashion, it's important for marketers to consider whether adding a low-priced product entry can damage the image of existing brands. It wouldn't make sense for Rolex to add a low-priced watch and distribute it through K-Mart for example, because doing so would be detrimental to the image of the Rolex brand name, and thus all brands carrying that name.
e. The filling out strategy adds new sizes or styles not previously available, while the contraction strategy reduces the number of items in a line by eliminating one or more that are unprofitable.
f. Before expanding a product line upward, downward, or via a filling strategy, firms must carefully evaluate the degree to which cannibalization is a risk. A new product cannibalizes an existing brand when it steals sales from a product that is already part of the product line.